UIS recently upgraded critical network equipment at 1800 Grant Street. In doing so, UIS improved performance and reliability for users at 1800 Grant and remote sites.

The 1800 Grant Core Network and Firewall Upgrade, improved network, and firewall equipment (which secures University traffic) to the established standard for all UIS datacenter processing sites.

The UIS Enterprise Cloud Services (ECS) Infrastructure team replaced networking equipment, configured and programmed new equipment, tested and performed troubleshooting to ensure services worked as expected. The team also spent a great deal of time rewiring cables in 1800 Grant’s main server room, affectionately known as the Cave of the Winds.

The ECS team’s work removes historical complexity, keeps CU current on our technology infrastructure, and ensures network stability while building for capacity, redundancy and improved performance.

These changes affected network services for 1800 Grant and all supported branch locations, including the Government Relations extension office in Washington D.C.; the Science Center, Legal, Technology Transfer and Coleman Institute offices in Boulder; the Government Relations and CU Health and Welfare Trust offices in Denver; as well as the CU Advancement offices in Broomfield.

More changes to come

The work at 1800 Grant and remote sites ties into the larger Inter-Site Connect initiative, which will install a dark fiber network connecting all UIS datacenter processing sites, Hosting.com, E-Fort (ViaWest), and the 1800 Grant Street building.  

The initiative improves on a site-to-site network originally implemented in 2012 and moves toward a more modern, efficient design and configuration. This initiative will increase reliability and bandwidth while saving money. It has been in progress since September 2017.

This initiative will:

• Increase reliability and bandwidth
• Improve maintenance capabilities
• Lower UIS monthly operating costs
• Improve flexibility to support possible UIS future strategic goals

This new site networking will lower the UIS monthly costs by about 30 percent while giving 1800 Grant and remote sites a faster, more reliable network. The new network will improve flexibility to support future UIS strategic goals, including a possible future move to the cloud. Details about the Inter-Site Connect initiative will be released later this year. The go-live is scheduled for Fall 2018.